NAZI SOMERSAULT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20918, 19 October 1942, Page 3

NAZI SOMERSAULT

TACTICS JCHANGED THREE WEEKS LEFT ICY WINDS SWEEP AREA (By TeiegTapn—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (11 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 18. The Germans are somersaulting from their previous declaration that artillery was sufficient for the final subjection of Stalingrad and are now trumpeting an all-out infantry, tank, and plane offensive in full swing against the northern factory area. The German planes are blasting a path for the tanks and infantry. The enemy is throwing into the gap seemingly endless reinforcements under the most concentrated air attack Stalingrad has yet known. Nevertheless, the Moscow radio, quoting a Stalingrad field radio, said the German attacks throughout the day were beaten off. Red Army men from the Urals, Siberia, and Georgia, as well as Tartars are now fighting at Stalingrad. Marshal Timoshenko’s north and south relief armies are reported to be making some progress. The Russians in one sector in the north-west penetrated the main German fighting line, but the Germans reinforced their flanks and are counter-attacking at some points. The Daily Telegraph’s Stockholm correspondent says that Hitler must take Satlingrad within three weeks or not at all. Sleet storms and icy winds are already sweeping the steppes between the Don and the Volga and supplies are becoming more and more a problem for the German High Command. Effect of German Losses The German losses in the latest assault on Stalingrad are reported to be extremely heavy—so much so that speculation is made in London as to whether the latest operations were decided upon by the German General Staff or have been imposed on the army by Herr Hitler’s personal orders. The fighting in the Mosdok area also is proving so costly that the Germans are unable to follow attack toy attack but have been forced to regroup and bring up reinforcements before striking again. A Russian Guards unit captured a strongly fortified key height on the Bryansk front, which the Germans had held for six months. A German High Command communique states that German and Slovak troops in the west of the Caucasus, despite fierce resistance, gained considerable ground. The Rumanians, with strong air support, dislodged the Russians from several mountain positions and took many prisoners. The Berlin official news agency says that German and Slovak troops captured the town of Shaumyan, 18 miles from Tuapse, on the Maikop'L’uapse road and railway. The Moscow radio claims that 13 Rumanian divisions, totalling more than 200,000 men, were killed during the summer on the Russian front. Berlin sources state that LieutenantGeneral von Kotze was killed on the Russian front.